Sultan bin Salman chairs the 41st meeting of SCTH Board of Directors
aTP- Arab tourism portal News- Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, President of SCTH, chaired the 41st meeting of the Board of Directors of SCTH in the Cultural Heritage Sector at the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center in Riyadh.
At the outset of the meeting President of SCTH extended thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Tow Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah protect him) for adopting the restoration of a number of historical mosques in Al Madinah, on the sidelines of the workshop of caring of Al Madinah historical mosques, held on October 10, 2016.
Adopting the restoration of a number of historical mosques in Al Madinah by the Custodian is an extension of his patronage and attention towards restoration of all historical mosques throughout the Kingdom, and also as a support to the efforts of SCTH for caring of the historical mosques across the Kingdom in close partnership with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Al Turath Foundation.
On the other hand, the meeting referred to the great attention paid by the Custodian to the national cultural heritage, which was crowned by his approval of the “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Program for Caring of Kingdom’s Cultural Heritage” after it was approved at first by the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), as an important national and historical project reflecting the progress in the heritage programs and projects.
The Board also praised the Custodian’s endorsement of coordination between King Abdul Aziz Dara and SCTH in the project of “Rehabilitation of State owned palaces and buildings in the reign of King Abdul Aziz”, which was recently approved and included within the National Transformation Program.
The Board also commended the approval made by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture to the project of development of the tourism hub in Taif, which includes Al Hada and Al Shifa sites in Taif.
Extending its appreciation to Prince Khalid Al Faisal, King’s Advisor and Governor of Makkah and Head of the Supreme Committee of Al Taif Municipality Development for his persistent support and follow up on this project, besides appreciating the support of the Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture to this project, which will be one of most important projects for enhancing tourism attraction in the Taif municipality in particular and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in general.
The Board also commended the focus of SCTH, since its very inception, on working closely with the citizens and engaging them in different phases of planning and implementation of its activities and programs, as well as paying great attention to their views and requirements as they are considered as the most important element in its efforts for setting proper regulations and offering them with the best of services.
In this context President of SCTH said, “SCTH is very keen to engage citizens in all the regulations and activities it implements, besides its keenness to take the resolutions and actions that reflect the interest of the citizens. Everything we do in SCTH we first ensure its positive impact on the citizens’ life and the regional economies. Its contribution to enhancing economic capabilities of the citizens for a decent life. The citizen needs more and he deserves more from us in order to live in prosperity and stability. SCTH since its inception has been committed to two conditions, the first is to involve the citizen at each and every stages of planning it does, determining its route and monitoring its implementation, while the second condition is to achieve the maximum impact on the citizens in their places of residence.”
The Board was briefed on the results of the third meeting of GCC tourism ministers which was hosted by the Kingdom on October 12, 2016 in Riyadh.
The Board instructed SCTH to link hotel classification with the support it provides to handicraft.
The Board stressed the importance of rehabilitating and qualifying national contractors to restore heritage buildings and accord such an opportunity to citizens to establish small and medium contracting companies in this field.
The Board on the other hand stressed the importance of applying the architectural identity of Saudi cities and to work with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in the project of treatment of the visual deformity of buildings in the tourism and heritage sites.
The Board Chairman and the members extended their thanks and appreciations to the members of the Board whose tenure came to an end, and praised their efforts and support to the functioning of the Board.
The Board welcomed the new members of the Board, praising their attention and participation and contribution in the Board for support of SCTH and serving the homeland in the tourism and national heritage sectors.
The Board commended the success achieved by Souk Okaz its latest session this year, extending its thanks and appreciation to Prince Khalid Al Faisal, Custodian’s Advisor, Makkah Governor, and Head of Souk Okaz Supervising Committee, for leading and undertaking the efforts of Souk Okaz development since its launch about ten years ago.
Afterward the Board reviewed a report on the work progress in the measurement of the economic impact of the national cultural heritage of the Kingdom, which was implemented by SCTH in collaboration with the World Bank, World Tourism Organization and the UNESCO in order to identify the economic impact of the investment in the elements of heritage and cultural sites and exploring similar international experience, as well as detecting the available opportunities in this important sector, in order for it to contribute to the creation of job opportunities, and contribute to the economic diversity and enhance demand on the cultural tourism.
The Board also reviewed a report on the work progress in “Live Saudi Arabia” program, which is already under implementation by SCTH, where the report stated that the program since its launch last year has conducted over 486 excursion trips, in which over 19440 students took part, both male and female. The trips covered a large number of tourism, cultural and heritage sites throughout the Kingdom.
The Board reviewed a report prepared by the Antiquities and Museums Sector of SCTH on the National Antiquities Recovery Program from inside and outside the Kingdom, stating that, the program so far has recovered over 48,000 relics from inside and outside the Kingdom, besides highlighting the future measures that will be taken by SCTH to restore national heritage from inside and outside the Kingdom.
